Sorry it's taken me this long for me to update! So, here's a brief recap from what's happening in the story: Last chapter Artemis has found out that Astoria is hidden in a secret passage inside the manor with the help of the Haven Police. The last time we left off in Astoria's POV, -the chapter before that-Opal was just about to explain her ingenious plan….

Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl.

Chapter 26: Confessions of love and schemes (Astoria)

I could not believe it. Opal Koboi was my mother. GASP! Did this mean my real name was Astoria Koboi, and NOT Astoria Anderson? Or would my last name be my father's last name? Who was my dad anyway? More importantly, how should I address my mother who kidnapped me? Should I call her Mother, Mom, Mommy, Mommy-kins…. the list went on and on. Or should I just call her Opal? Maybe I shouldn't acknowledge the fact that she was my mother by calling her those things: She did just kidnap me after all. Hopefully Opal/Mother/Mom/Mommy would answer my questions. Because I most certainly didn't have a clue as to how to answer any of them!

"Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted by those nincompoops," O/M- I had started addressing Opal as O/M in my mind to avoid confusion about what to call her- went on, as she dismissed Merv and Scant, and would hopefully go on to explain the whole dang thing. "I was just going to explain our situation here. " Yes! It's about dang time!" I thought to myself but did not say out loud so O/M could continue.

"For many years of my life, I have always known that someday I shall take over not only the fairy world, but the human world as well. To be able to achieve this goal, I knew I would need some sort of weapon that could understand both humans and fairies, therefore being able to know both their strengths and weaknesses. A weapon like this could not be merely a piece of technology; a weapon like this would have to be alive in order to truly understand human and fairy emotions and other physiological aspects of human fairies. A mere gun could not do that.

That's when I realized what my weapon must be: you. "

"Say what?" I was unable to compute this unexpected piece of information. Then; "GASP!" I, er, gasped. I. Was. A. Weapon. You learn something new every day.

O/M ignored my comments and went on," I mesmerized a human man into falling in love with and marrying me. Soon into our marriage I became pregnant with you, just as I planned. My plan was that if a fairy and a human had a child together, than surely you would inherit a mixture of both human and fairy traits. This way, I created the first human-fairy hybrid the world has ever known. By doing this, though your species is human, you inherited very powerful and unusual magic from me. Some of this magic is not even possessed by ordinary fairies. However, you are able to live among the humans and are therefore able to understand them better than normal fairies do. Just as I was hoping my weapon would be able to do and be; everything that I ever wanted. "

"However," O/M went on as she took a brief pause for me to let this all sink in. "You were not ready to be put to use. Not yet. You were only a baby. Your powers were not completely developed and you would not know how to use them. If the rest of fairy world found out about this they would keep a close eye on you and might even decide your future for you in a way that would not go according to plan. Therefore, I sent you into the human world to have human foster parents for the moment. But I always knew I would come back for you someday."

Opal- I had grown tired of O/M and decided to temporarily think of her as "Opal"- was about to go on but I interrupted her. A thought had just occurred to me.

"Who's my dad and what happened to him?" For some reason Opal did not look like she wanted to answer this question. "I will get to that another time." She snapped and went on," I was always watching over you in secret as you got older. I observed your powers grow and develop. When I saw you hack into the fairy network, I knew I did the right thing in having you. Not only did you inherit my powers, but you also inherited my I.Q. Not only do you have powerful magic over humans and fairies alike, you also have a higher I.Q. than most human and fairy people. Everything was happening as I had hoped it would. Then came the goblin rebellion."

Opal's fond reminiscing ceased to a halt and a look of vengefulness and spite replaced the smile on her face instead. "I had planned that once I had taken control of the fairies using Cudgeon and the goblins, then I would use you. I never particularly liked him at all, but he was useful at the time so I decided to use him instead, but only for temporarily. As soon as I gained power, I would dispose of him. That's where you were supposed to come in. I would have control over the fairy world, but not the human world. After Cudgeon was taken care of, I would use you to take control of the humans. Then I would have truly achieved power over both worlds. The entire universe could be at my feet if I wanted it too. However my plans were foiled by a certain idiotic centaur, an interfering police officer, a pugnacious dwarf, and- to top it all off! A snot nosed arrogant Mud Man. "

I had a feeling I knew who she was talking about at the end and there was pure venom in her voice as she said all this. I sincerely hoped she hadn't found out about my friendship with Artemis being as that might make things a little awkward between us. I had a feeling she might not take it too well if I came out and said," Hey, Mom! You know that snot nosed arrogant Mud Man you were talking about? The one who foiled your plan? Well guess what, we're best friends! Isn't that great?" But then again, that could just be me.

Opal continued her monologue while I thought about all this and went on," I put myself into a cleansing coma for a little while to think about what my next move should be. I then managed to employ Merv and Scant to help me break out of the clinic I was staying at while I was in my coma. They snuck me out and left a clone in my place, and as far as I know the fairies that work there are none the wiser. I then came back to keep an eye on you and put my plan into practice. Do you remember why the St. Magenta's Girls' Academy was taken from their old school and are currently visiting St. Bartleby's School for Young Gentlemen?"

I nodded. "Wasn't there a fire there over the summer or something? And NO, just to clear this up, I had absolutely NOTHING to do with it." For some reason at first some of my classmates seemed to believe I had something to do with it, jeez… Opal smiled, and I noticed an evil glint appear in her eyes as she did so. "Oh don't worry; I know you had nothing to do with that. You see, I was the one who caused the fire. The building burning down was not an accident. The authorities suspected this, but it was all hushed up."

"Anyway," Opal went on as if she had just made some comment about the weather instead of confessing to being an arsonist. "I did this because I found out where Artemis Fowl goes to school. I figured that it would be an advantage on my side to have my secret weapon is near my enemy without him realizing it. However, what I did not expect, nor did I want to happen be for you two to become friends. "I held my breath, waiting for Opal's displeasure to come, but to my great surprise and relief it didn't. " I will admit at first I was displeased, to say the least. But I soon realized this close contact could be to my advantage. If you were to grow close to Artemis Fowl, you would understand him better. Do you remember that one time in October when you two were snowed in?"

I smiled, fondly recollecting the memory. What Opal said next completely threw me off guard.

"Well, the snow was fake. I needed to keep you two away from school to proceed with my new plan. I had noticed what Artemis gave you for your birthday, and became curious. I snuck into your dorm and recognized the value of the money. I mesmerized some agents from the government and had planned that once they arrested you, instead of taking you to prison they would take you to me. Again my plan failed. So I came up with a new plan. Artemis had regained his memories of the fairy world, but Juliet and Domovoi Butler had not. I had used so many people at this point; I thought "Let's use them."

I felt my heart rate speed up, what had she done to Butler and Juliet? Opal answered my question. "You see, I had this theory about the mind wipe. I had a theory that it is not completely 100% foolproof. For example, Artemis regained his memories when he saw you use magic. Also, it has been proven that if someone who has been mind wiped has been put under the Mesmer, they can regain their memories. There are loopholes to the mind wipe and I intended to use them. One day when Juliet Butler went to her dressing room after a wrestling match, she found a photograph of herself, her brother, and the mud brat from a little over a year ago. Something seemed very out of place to her but she could not understand why or what it was. A few days later, she found a pair of glasses with mirrored- lenses on her dresser. She tried them on and suddenly, she saw several very blurred and very brief images flash before her eyes. Dim- witted as she is, even she at this point was starting to wonder what was going on. More and more objects from the past kept appearing before her and she kept seeing more and more images. The poor girl thought she was hallucinating. She was questioning her very sanity, but did not know if she should tell someone. The real trigger came when she found a couple of diary entries from when she was sixteen. That was the moment when the final piece of the puzzle fell into place. Slowly, but surely, she regained her memories and she remembered it all.

However, due to this all not happening at once, Juliet could not help but think there was something wrong with her. She was too scared to tell anyone what was happening to her. Eventually I appeared before her and put her under the Mesmer. I made sure I gained complete and total control over her when you came to the manor. I then ordered her to capture you while you were getting snacks. And here you are now."

I felt my jaw clench and my eyes saw red. Poor Juliet must have felt so helpless and terrified.

"Did you Mesmer her to being my friend?" I asked. Opal shook her head.

"She did that part on her own accord. The rest of the time she was under the Mesmer. Since you have left she has been in hysterics. She cannot help but feel responsible for your absence even though she herself is not aware what has happened." It was then and there that I lost it.

"WHY?" I screeched. "How can you do all of this? I can think of so many laws you have broke and so many people you have hurt. Are you really that ruthless? Feel some remorse, Opal. Please." Opal clearly did not respect my reaction to this.

"Ruthless?" She shrieked. "You think I am the one who is at fault here? Here you are, not wanting to thank me for doing all of this for you? GIVE ME A BREAK!"

"You didn't do this for me!" I shouted back. "You did this for yourself! And the reason I don't want to go along with this is this: I LOVE those people you have hurt! Artemis, Juliet, every last one of them!" Opal turned pale at this and said in a deathly calm voice." You. Love. Them." She repeated theses words with an indescribable look on her face.

"Yes," I said, trying very hard to stay calm. "I love Juliet like a sister. I love Artemis Fowl in ways you will never understand. I have loved him since the moment I met him."

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